White Bear Lake family asking for help reuniting with accidentally donated quilt

WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. (FOX 9) - After their father died just before Christmas, the Tardiff family accidently donated a custom-made quilt dedicated to their father’s time in the Navy. They’re hoping thrifters in the Twin Cities can help them track it down.

The quilt was made by their mom, Suzanne, a few years before their dad passed away of Alzheimer’s in December of 2021. The quilt honored their dad Gregory’s time in the Navy. He spent four years in active duty, including a nine-month tour on an airline cruiser in Vietnam, and 25 years in the Navy Reserve.

"He was actually retired from the Navy Reserves, and I wanted him to have something special," his wife Suzanne Tardiff said.

The quilt includes his full name "Gregory Jon Tardiff" and includes details like this rank, patches from his uniform and Sue’s name displayed on the back.

"It’s very colorful, and each area is a little different," Suzanne said.

The quilt was draped over Greg’s casket at his funeral. Afterwards, boxes of his belongings ended up in the care of his kids. Some of those items were donated. Suzanne and Greg’s daughters Ashley and Megan believe the quilt ended up in a box that was donated to the Goodwill in Roseville. She says they’ve gone to the store to look for the quilt, but haven’t found it.

"I’ve heard several things like it could still be in the back room it could be other places someone could have purchased it," Megan Tardiff said.

Megan said the manager of the Goodwill told her they would be on the lookout for the quilt. Goodwill’s corporate office told FOX 9:

"Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota has 48 locations, and each takes in thousands of donations from generous Minnesotans daily. These items are then sorted and often sent to different stores depending on inventory. 

We take it very seriously when items are donated accidentally, and have previously reconnected people with their misplaced items. As far as our process, it is handled on a case-by-case basis depending on what was donated, where/how it was likely to have been sold, and how long it has been since being donated.

Due to the large number of items we take in, it is not always possible to track where each item is located (whether it be on the sales floor, in the back room, or in transit to another store). 

This customer did the right thing in contacting the store as soon as they realized the item was missing. The manager of the store will continue to keep an eye out, but unfortunately the item may have already been sold."

Now the Tardiff family hopes by getting the word out, the quilt will be returned to their family.

"I’m hoping somebody will find it, and I would gladly give them another quilt in exchange," Suzanne said.